Universal Constants
by xbleeple
Summary: Some things in the universe are constants, and sometimes those constants aren't just in our universe.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** I didn't target a season for when this fic is, it kind of just happens abstractly in time. Sam has made Major and Jolinar has happened...looking at the timeline I would say this semi exists starting in Season 7? I think you'll get the gist. I don't know that any one event in this fic has a SUPER strong tie to anything that has happened in the show, they're generally brief mentions.

* * *

Sam sighs as she steps out of the shower. Her skin was bright pink from the heat of the water and thorough scrubbing she'd given herself. After a month in a goa'uld prison she didn't think it was possible to be too clean, even though she'd taken a shower almost immediately after they had stepped through the gate. After a day full of poking and prodding by Janet, determining she had no serious injuries, and debriefing the General on what had happened while they were gone, she was ready for another one once she'd gotten out of her BDUs and made her way home.

She grabs the towel she'd set out for herself on the counter and wraps it around her body, using a hand towel to dry her hair enough to stop the dripping. Padding into her bedroom she finishes drying off before leaving the towel on the footboard of her bed. Sam opens one of her dresser drawers and pulls out a simple, sleeveless cotton sundress that was light blue with a simple white floral print over it. She shuts the drawer with her hip and pulls the dress on, deciding to forgo underwear and a bra. It had gone from being reasonably cool to hot while they were gone and the air conditioning was still working on cooling the house down.

Making her way downstairs she stops in the kitchen and grabs a beer out of the fridge, popping the top before holding it against her forehead as she peruses the few other groceries she had purchased. She reaches in to grab a yogurt cup and watches as her skin pales against the stark bruises that mottled her body. She was littered with them from head to toe, a living example of the torturous beatings they had taken. Her lip was split and she had butterfly closures holding her eyebrow together amongst the few other cuts and scrapes that wounded her skin. They didn't have time to throw her back into the sarcophagus before they were finally able to break out and make it back to the stargate.

Sam pulls her hand back with the yogurt cup in its grasp before closing the door and grabbing a spoon. She makes her way over to the couch and sits directly under the air vent, taking a drink of her beer before setting it down on the table and tearing open the top of the yogurt. A sigh leaves her lips once more as she lets the fruity cream melt over her tongue before digging into the rest of the cup. She pauses when she gets up to throw it away and hears a knock on the door. She finishes her trip to the kitchen and tosses the cup into the trash before continuing towards the door.

Sam looks through the peep hole, standing up on her toes slightly to reach the sight. Her brow furrows when she sees Jack on the other side, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, sunglasses on his face. He taps on the door again after he doesn't receive a response. Sam sinks down to stand flat on her feet and unlocks on the door before pulling it open.

"Hi," Sam greets quietly as she lifts her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, "Miss me already, sir?"

Jack removes his sunglasses and Sam easily finds herself burning underneath his intense and dark gaze. She steps back as he steps towards her, using his body to move her back into the house. He kicks the door shut behind himself before continuing to move until he presses her into the wall.

"Sir?" Sam questions as they stop moving. From his proximity she could easily smell his cologne and soap, the fresh scent making her mouth water. Jack drops his sunglasses on the ground before cupping her face and pressing his lips to hers in one swift movement. Sam's eyes widen as she feels his lips on hers before they slip closed and she finds herself kissing him back with hunger. Her fingers tangle in his short grey hair and she pulls him closer, her tongue delving into his mouth. She wasn't even thinking at this point, her body and mind were purely reacting to the fact that Jack O'Neill was finally kissing her.

The two continue to explore each other's mouths before Jack presses his hips into Sam's, his need evident. She presses back against him and moans softly into his mouth. Jack's hands trail down her body as far as they can go before he grips her thighs and lifts her, using his body weight to pin her into the wall. His knees were going to hate him for this, but if they took the time to move, the time to think, this wasn't going to end where they wanted it to. Sam follows his lead and wraps her legs around his waist, her ankles locking together against his backside, grinding her against his erection.

It's not too long before Jack's hands abandon her body and divert their attention to his belt buckle, undoing his belt and fly before Sam reaches over and pushes his jeans down just enough to free him. She grabs him in her hand as her lips attack his again and she strokes him with a firm grip. He groans at her grip and lets out an even deeper groan as he finds out that she wasn't wearing any underwear. Her dress gets bunched at her waist and Sam guides Jack into her entrance, both of them groaning in unison as they come together. They pause for a moment as he fully sheaths his length inside of her. Jack buries his head to her neck, inhaling the scent of clean cotton and Sam before he begins to move

Sam moans as Jack pins her to the wall and takes her hard and fast. Her already lit nerve endings find themselves engulfed in flames as he stretches her and his teeth sink into the soft skin at the juncture of her neck. She could tell his grip on her thighs was bruising but she didn't care. What was another set at this point? A picture falls off the wall and to the floor with a shattering clatter and Sam gasps as Jack drives his hips particularly hard against hers.

"Harder," She begs, the only word she'd uttered since before Jack had kissed her. Jack grunts and thrusts harder and faster against her, his knees already starting to burn. Sam finds herself quickly on edge, staring at an abyss of pleasure before her. Her head tips back and Jack buries his face in her breasts as his thumb slips between them and finds her clit easily. He presses down firmly, slowly rubbing the tip of his finger back and forth.

Sam's breath comes in heaving pants as she feels her body start to let go. Her short nails dig into Jack's shoulders as she cries out with her release, trying to squirm away from the sensation. She gasps and whimpers as Jack continues to move and overstimulate her. He only lasts a few more thrusts, the twitching and milking of her inner muscles pulling him over the edge as he groans into the milky flesh underneath his mouth. His hips jerk once more as he finishes, kissing softly against her jaw.

Jack doesn't say anything as he pries them off of the wall and carries her upstairs to her bedroom, remembering where the room was from previous visits to the house. He deposits her on the bed and sheds his sweaty white t-shirt before leaning down to work on his boots. He manages to quickly get his boots and socks off along with his jeans before pulling his boxers back up. He playfully drags Sam's dress up and over her head. The fabric gets deposited with his clothes and he climbs into bed with her.

Sam watches him with curious eyes as he skims his eyes over her body before running his hand down her front. A slight frown turns the corner of her mouth downward as she notices the harrowed look in his eyes. He presses his lips to a bruise on her rib cage before moving them to another one nearby. Sam bites her lip as Jack busies himself with kissing all of the bruises on her body. By the time he's finished her breathing is slow and she's curled up on her side, fast asleep. He presses a kiss to her shoulder and wraps the blankets around her.

"I should have protected you," Jack whispers before closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around her middle.

The two spend the rest of their weekend off alternating between fucking and eating. They order in Chinese and Italian, rotating between the two as they heat up leftovers. In the mornings Sam makes them coffee and bowls of cereal that they enjoy out on her back porch. At night it's wine or beer. Their conversations generally don't consist of any important topics. At night as they finally go to sleep, Jack whispers the same words against the skin of her shoulder. Generally one of them ends up waking up from a nightmare, usually her, and it's up to the other to bring them back to the reality that they were safe and no longer locked away wondering if they were ever going to get home.

Sunday night, Jack finally pulls his jeans back on and puts his boots on, looking up at Sam from his spot on the couch. She was wrapped in a fluffy light blue robe and smiling softly at him. Why, he didn't know. She should be furious with him. She should have thrown him out the second he showed up and kissed her. But she wasn't. At least as far as he could tell.

"I'll see you at the mountain tomorrow?"

"Yeah. 0700, bright and early, sir," Sam nods. She trails behind Jack as he makes his way to the door. She grabs onto the wood as he opens it up, stepping out onto her front stoop.

"Sam," Jack says as he turns to face her, "I…"

"Just go," Sam whispers, the smile still on her face, "We don't need to talk about this right now, ruin the weekend…just go."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, sir," Sam repeats.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Carter," Jack nods before heading for his truck. Sam retreats back inside and wanders through the living room and kitchen to pick up, turning the lights off along the way. Once she's finished she goes to make her way upstairs, stopping as someone knocks on the door. A sigh slips from her lips as she checks the peep hole before opening the door with an internal roll of her eyes and a smile.

"Forget som…"

"Have dinner with me," Jack asks, interrupting her, "Next week, sometime after our mission. Maybe Wednesday? There's a nice Italian place in town, or we could do something else. I mean we ate quite a bit of it this weekend. Or we could stay in I suppose, I mean…"

"Jack!" Sam interrupts to stop the incessant babbling pouring from his mouth, "Sure. We can figure something out later."

"Right."

"Good night, sir."

"Night," Jack replies, before once more walking back to his truck. Sam closes and locks the door before continuing upstairs. She makes her way into her bathroom and turns the faucet in the bathtub on, waiting for the water to heat up. Once it gets to a decent temperature she plugs the drain and gets underneath the sink to grab some bubble bath as well as some epsom salts. She shakes she salts out over the water before putting a capful of the liquid underneath the stream of water. Putting the things back into the cupboard she stands to shed her robe and sweats she'd put on before Jack left. She takes a second to turn on the cd player she'd had on a shelf before slipping into the bathtub with a soft groan.

Sam's entire body was sorer than it was when she'd gotten home on Friday afternoon. Their couplings had been rough, not that she minded (she's pretty sure she uttered the phrase 'fuck me' a few times), but she was going into work the next morning with more bruises than she'd had. And she was pretty sure that the goa'uld didn't bite people in the neck. Luckily her BDUs were going to cover up most of the things and people were aware of what had happened to them. She'd throw a little foundation on her neck and call it a day. With how sore her hip joints were she wondered if she was going to have to explain why she was walking funny. Though explaining anything would get them kicked out on their asses so fast they wouldn't know what hit them.

Sam groans before submerging herself in the tub, holding her breath as long as she can. How had they fallen into it so easy? Acting like they'd been together for months and didn't need to talk about the implications of their actions. What had she gotten herself into? What had they gotten themselves into?

* * *

[TBC]


	2. Chapter 2

The group enjoyed a few days of reprieve on the base before being sent out on their next mission. It was a simple recon mission to a simple planet, with no goa'ulds or prisons. They had intended to spend a week after initial recon and spent just that before returning home on Wednesday afternoon. After a trip to the infirmary for post mission checks and a briefing with General Hammond they were free to go about their business.

Jack knocks on the door to Sam's lab to grab her attention. She looks up from the paperwork in front of her and smiles at him as she normally would, closing the folder. Though she'd had plenty of time to think about their weekend of sin over the last week and a half, she'd determined early on that she needed to show no outward signs of any swirling thoughts that may be taking over her mind.

"Sir, what can I do for you?"

"I thought I would see if you were still up for…" Jack asks, leaving the end hanging.

"Sure, let's see if Teal'c and Daniel want to come," Sam says as she jumps up, heading out to find the other two. Jack catches her by the wrist and pulls her back slightly, his eyes scanning around to make sure no one could see or hear them, checking their position for the security camera in the corner.

"That's not what I…"

"I know what you meant," Sam replies, her voice low, "But before we dig ourself deeper into the hole we already can't get out of, we need to talk and not over a romantic dinner. So, let's see if Daniel and Teal'c want to come. We can go to O'Malley's if they do. Otherwise we need to go home, separately."

"Okay," Jack lets her go and holds his hands up, "Okay."

Sam offers him a small smile before leaving the lab in search of their co-workers. By the end of the night everyone was on the tipsy end of the scale except for Sam. They settle up on their bill and she herds all of them into her Volvo before starting to drop people off. Teal'c goes first, back to the mountain, then Daniel, leaving her with Jack who lived the furthest from base and the restaurant they had gone to. She pulls into his driveway a while later and parks the car next to his truck before looking over at him. Their drive had been quiet after dropping Daniel off. Jack rolls his head towards her and dark eyes look her up and down before he sits up properly.

"Got time to talk?"

"You've been drinking, sir."

"Carter…" Jack says with a warning tone, "Just come inside. I've given you an out. I had a couple drinks, you had to drive me home. Daniel and Teal'c are none the wiser. Stay for a cup of coffee and let's talk."

"Alright," Sam sighs and turns the car off before getting out and following Jack inside of his house. Her eyes glance around the dark street, almost as if she was looking for someone following them that would rat them out before they ever got a chance to figure things out. She follows him to the kitchen and sits at the counter as he starts a pot of coffee. Soon he puts a mug in front of her along with some cream and sugar. Sam puts the smallest dollop of cream in and takes a sip before sighing softly as she looks at the man across from her.

"Sir, I…"

"Jack."

"What?" Sam questions as he interrupts her immediately.

"Jack, Carter. For cryin' out loud. If we're going to talk about personal things then you might as well call me Jack."

"Right, Jack," Sam says before taking another sip of her coffee, letting the warm liquid roll around her mouth before she swallows, "There's no way around this."

"This being…"

"The frat regulations," Sam clarifies, "If anyone even found out what went on two weeks ago, we'd both be court marshaled. And I…I still don't entirely know why it even happened in the first place."

"You kissed me back," Jack shrugs as he takes a long swig of his coffee, staring across the counter at her. Sam rolls her eyes and lets go of her cup, folding her arms on the counter top in front of her.

"Do I really need to ask the question as to why you even kissed me in the first place?" Sam arches her eyebrow in a very Teal'c-ish way. Jack's eyes cast downward and he runs his thumb over the rim of his mug a few times.

"I, uh…I should have done more," Jack replies, still not looking up, "When we were in the prison. I should have taken the brunt of it. Not you."

"You don't need to protect me and that still doesn't explain why."

"I like you, Sam. You know that," Jack says, finally looking up at her. He sighs as he takes another drink before continuing to speak, "I probably more than just like you. I've liked you for years…I just…you know why I haven't said anything. We said we'd keep it in the room. Anything happens between us and we're out on our ass. But with everything that happened and how hurt you were, and…"

"That's not even the worst I've been injured since we've started working together."

"I know!" Jack exclaims, standing and starting to pace, "It makes no sense. I get that part. I just…do you get what it's like seeing a person you…like…injured and…"

"Have you met yourself? Between the four of us I am the least injury prone, you only come second to Daniel!" Sam retorts with a laugh and a shake of her head, "And that's only because we gave Daniel extra points because he died."

"Wait, you guys keep track of this?"

"Don't change the subject," Sam warns, "I came back hurt and…"

"And I didn't want to brush off what I felt this time. I couldn't. I could have lost you."

"So, you decided to fuck me six ways from Sunday?" Sam asks, bluntly. Jack was surprised at her use of coarse language outside of the mountain, but he couldn't deny that's what he did. He shrugs as he looks at her.

"I figured I could do it better than I could say it," Jack responds, "You know how bad with words I am."

"You're doing well so far," Sam says as she wraps her hands around the coffee cup again, seeking the warmth. She studies the man across from her and takes another drink, tilting her head to the side and worrying her lip with her teeth.

"What?" Jack asks.

"Do you want a relationship?" Sam counter-questions figuring in this situation it would do better to be blunt than beat around the bush, "Or was this just an itch you needed to scratch to get rid of your demons?"

"A relationship with you?"

"Yes."

"I'd be an idiot not to," Jack responds with a small grin, "Want has never been the thing that stopped me, Sam. I doubt it's what's been stopping you."

Jack steps around to her side of the counter and stands a few inches in front of her, staring down into her blue eyes. He was instantly taken back to their weekend together when they had almost constantly stayed a clear deep sapphire instead of their usual dimensional shades of cornflower blue. Sam turns to face him and sighs as she reaches out to play with a button on his shirt. She snaps her hand back after a moment and shakes her head.

"You do realize either one of us needs a change in career or we have to fly by night…and we both know that won't go well."

"You're the brains of our operation. What do we do?"

"I don't know," Sam shrugs as she looks at him, her blue eyes mildly sorrowful.

"Why don't we keep taking it easy?" Jack suggests, "Maybe we'll think of something."

"Maybe," Sam sighs and finishes her coffee before setting the mug down, "I should get going, it's late."

"Let me walk you out," Jack says, putting his hand on the small of her back as he walks her out to her car. Sam clicks the key fob to unlock it before turning around to face him.

"I'm glad we were able to talk."

"Me too."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"They do keep wanting me to come in. You know for those paychecks they give me," Jack jokes. Sam laughs softly and shakes her head. He leans down and captures her lips in a soft kiss. Pulling away after a moment he smiles at her stunned expression, "See you tomorrow, Carter."

* * *

[TBC]


	3. Chapter 3

Sam jumps as she works her flight suit up her body, over the space liner she already had on, stuffing her arms through the sleeves. She zips up and makes sure her patches were arranged before sitting down on the bench to lace her boots. After lacing up and tying her boots she grabs her helmet out of her bag and leaves the locker room, running into Jack in the hallway.

"Fancy running into you here," She grins as they fall into step to head out to the hangar deck. She notices the slightly grumpy look on his face and tilts her head, "Everything okay, sir?"

"Fine, knee's just not feeling the g's today," He replies as they follow one of the engineers to the fighter they were testing. It had been a few weeks since their talk, there had been no movement on the relationship front and the two of them were doing well to play it off like nothing had happened between them.

They'd moved up another increment in the fighter prototypes based on goa'uld and other alien technology and he and Sam had been tapped to do a test run of the new Air Force toy. He knew she was itching to get into the cockpit, and he had been as well until his knee had started acting up the night before. He'd be fine to fly, but it wasn't going to be comfortable.

"Have you had Doctor Fraiser take look at it?"

"Nah, it'll be fine," Jack indicates the storm clouds gathering in the far off distance, "Rain later."

"Mmm," Sam nods as she looks at the horizon, "Yeah, weather said something about thunderstorms tonight."

The two continue their walk across the tarmac and make their way to the plane they were going to be piloting. Jack barely listens as the engineer babbles on, banking on Sam listening as takes the plane in himself. He hears Sam ask a couple questions before she looks at him with an arched eyebrow, silently asking if he had any questions. Jack shakes his head, "I'm good."

"Alright, you two are good to climb on up," The engineer tells them before heading back towards the control center. Sam takes a deep breath as she tries to quell the butterflies in her stomach. No matter how many times she climbed in a cockpit there were always butterflies fluttering around her insides until they got going.

"Rock, paper, scissors for lead?" Jack proposes.

"You don't want to do lead, sir?" Sam asks as she looks over at him.

"Not necessarily, I just thought I'd be nice and offer the chance for you to do it...maybe...if you win."

"Okay," Sam grins, "Best 2 out of 3?"

"On shoot?"

"Alright," Sam turns to face him and holds her hand out. They go three rounds with Sam pulling out the win in the end. She teasingly smashes Jack's scissors with her rock before climbing up the ladder to the front cockpit. Jack climbs into the back one and the two start to do their pre-flight checks as they drive to the take off strip.

"Navigation."

"Check."

"Oxygen, pressure, temperature control."

"All check."

"Inertial dampners."

"Check."

"Engines."

"All check."

"Phasers?"

"Still no phasers, sir," Sam grins, "All systems operational. Mission Command, all systems go from Abydos Two."

"Copy that Abydos Two," Mission Command rings through, "Good luck."

Sam pulls the plane to a stop before flipping all of the switches she needs to and starting to power down the runway to take off. After they clear the ground they continue to call out speeds and distances to Mission Command until they get the all clear.

"Why don't you stretch her legs a bit, Carter?" Jack radios through. The plane was being tested for ground warfare as well as interspace. They were taking it through a ground flight before climbing towards space for another test.

"Yes, sir," Sam replies before increasing the speed of the plane, driving it through a couple of barrel rolls and quick dives before the butterflies still fluttering in her stomach decide to turn on her, making her green around the gills, "Sir, I think you need to take the controls."

"You're doing fine, let's start the climb."

"No, I _need_ you to take the controls," Sam tells him. Jack confirms with confusion in his voice and she passes the controls over to him before tearing off her oxygen mask and barfing into the base of the cockpit.

"Mission Command, this is Abydos Two, abort mission, I repeat abort mission. I've got a sick pilot here."

"Mission aborted. You're clear to bring her in, Abydos Two."

Jack slows the speed and lowers the nose into a landing position, trying to get a look over his console at Sam, "Carter, you alright?"

"Just dandy, sir," She gasps into her mask before throwing up again. After a few more moments she sits up and wipes her mouth on her glove before putting her mask back on, "I'm going to need some new boots."

"We're almost on the ground," Jack assures her as he continues to dive the jet until they make contact with the tarmac. By the time they pull back into the hangar the engineers and cleaning crew are waiting for them with less than amused looks. Jack climbs down first before helping Sam out, grimacing at the vomit splattered all over the floor, "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Sam shakes him off already feeling better after her explosive and embarrassing mishap. There were certain circles she was never going to live this down in. SGC was probably going to be one of them if any of them ever got wind of it, "Must have been that omelette I ate."

"You should have gotten the Fruit Loops. Always good, no food poisoning," Jack reprimands playfully before they both climb down the ladder. He claps one of the engineers on the shoulder, "Try again tomorrow?"

"Of course, sir," The captain nods, giving Jack a strained smile.

"Sorry, Captain," Sam apologizes before heading for the locker room, her boots squeaking slightly on the floor of the hangar. Once she gets inside she sits on the bench and leans down to unlace her boots, grimacing at the stains on them. She immediately throws them into the trash can, planning to pick a new pair up at the PX later that afternoon.

Sam groans and reaches up as she feels tears pool in her eyes, swiping underneath hoping to stop them before they started. How could she be such a rookie and barf? She'd been flying for more than 15 years, for crying out loud. By the time she's out of her flight suits and back in her BDUs with gym sneakers instead of her boots she's calmed herself down and tidied up a bit, reapplying a little bit of her makeup. She leaves the locker room and makes her way down to the commissary grabbing a snack on her way to the actual lab section of the base. Of course, now she was starving. She finishes her snack on the walk before pushing into one of the labs and starting to talk to the other scientists and engineers that were pouring over some of the latest technologies brought back by the SG teams. By the time dinner rolls around Sam's surprised when Jack taps her on the shoulder and asks if she was interested in dinner.

"As long as you're not going to throw up all over your shoes again."

"I think I'm done throwing up for the day, sir," Sam has the nerve to blush slightly as she ducks her head before following him to the commissary. Even though she doesn't feel sick any more Sam sticks to a relatively bland dinner of chicken noodle soup with some bread and blue jello. She eyeballs Jack's loaded up tray, envious of his metabolism even though he had a good seven plus years on her. After dinner the two retire to the guest quarters for the evening. Sam undresses down to modest pajamas before curling up in bed with a novel, glad to read something that wasn't an mission or science report.

In the morning they do another test flight and the engineering crew makes sure Sam has a sick bag stuffed in her suit before letting them take off. The flight is relatively uneventful for the both of them and they bring the bird back for a diagnostics check to run for the afternoon. Jack leaves soon after their flight, heading back to the mountain while Sam was going to stay behind for the rest of the week to work with the R and D department, coming back on Saturday.

Upon Sam's return she finds that they were scheduled to leave on a mission Monday morning. She spends the rest of the weekend lounging around the house before retiring to her quarters on base late Sunday afternoon, getting her things together for their trip. She heads down to the infirmary when she's beckoned for her pre-mission screening, hopping up on the table as she waits for Janet. The doctor checks her over from head to toe before taking a quick vial of blood and sending her to the bathroom with a urine sample cup as she runs the blood through a string of tests that could be run in their lab quickly.

Janet frowns as she grabs the results printout, looking over the values presented to her. She takes another sample and runs it through the system once again, receiving near the same results. Tucking both of the sheets of paper into Sam's file she makes her way to a supply locker before heading back into the exam room Sam was sitting in, the filled cup waiting for her on the tray sitting next to the bed.

"You had me worried there for a second."

"Just had to run another set of tests, machine malfunctioned the first time," Janet fibs as she tears open a test strip she had tucked in the file and inserts it into the cup.

"Honestly I don't even know why you bother with those tests anymore," Sam rolls her eyes, "You told me yourself the chance of me getting pregnant is less than like what? Three percent after everything I've been through. And we can narrow that down to zero with how my personal life has been going."

"Mmm," Janet hums with a slightly disinterested tone as she stares at the strip, watching with interest as the test develops. She reaches into her pocket after a moment and grabs a stamp out, stamping the bottom of Sam's current test sheet.

"Unfit for duty?! Janet?" Sam exclaims.

"How _has_ your personal life been going?" Janet asks with an arched eyebrow as she holds the folder to her chest, "I can't let you go through the gate in your condition."

"What condition?"

"Sam, you're pregnant."

"What? Janet, this isn't funny," Sam tells the doctor, an aggravated look on her face. After the SG1 team had gotten themselves into quite a few physical ordeals, including her experience with Jolinar, she had talked to the doctor about her chances of getting pregnant. Sam had always seen a couple of kids in her future, though when she was going to get to that future she had no idea. It's not like any of her dates or relationships ended up going well. After running a series of tests and consulting a fertility specialist that was a close friend of Janet's with the proper clearance, the two of them had deduced that while it wouldn't be impossible the chances were extremely low.

"I'm not joking, Sam. You know I wouldn't joke about something like that," Janet tells her before opening the folder and reading over the results again and checking them against Sam's previous results, "Based on SG-1's bit of a break lately, I'd say the last time we tested you you were only maybe one or two weeks along. Not within our range to hold a female officer from duty."

"And now?"

"I'd put you between six and eight. HCG numbers aren't entirely effective at pinpointing how far along a mother is."

"What if I could give you an exact date?"

"That would be more helpful."

"June 14th."

"June 14th? That was the day I released you after you were captured," Janet says as she makes a few notes in the Major's file. Sam shrugs as her cheeks color, looking down at her hands, "You said nothing happened while you were in captivity."

"Nothing did happen. It happened the day I went home."

"You didn't…he didn't…"

"I had consensual sex with someone," Sam lifts her head and looks Janet in the eye, "That's all."

"You know I have to tell the General about this."

"I'll tell him," Sam says as she hops down from the table, "I assume we're done right now?"

"Yeah," Janet nods and closes Sam's file, "I'd like to do an exam soon, make sure everything is okay."

"Sure, I can come back later tonight, or tomorrow maybe."

"I've got team exams until eight but then I'm free after that. I can stay late. Cassie is staying with a friend," Janet tells Sam. The blonde nods before starting to make her way out of the room, "Sam."

"Huh?" Sam stops and turns.

"Congratulations," Janet tells her with a smile. Sam offers a small quirk of the corner of her mouth before making her way up to General Hammond's office. She knocks quietly on the door and waits for permission to enter before stepping inside, shutting the door behind herself.

"Major Carter, what can I do for you?"

"I, uh…I can't go on the mission with SG-1 tomorrow, sir."

"Well, why not?" Hammond closes the folder in front of him and folds his arms on his desk, regarding the blonde with a careful eye.

"You remember when we had that conversation about the thing that was probably never going to happen?" Sam replies to jog his memory, knowing how uncomfortable he had been after the conversation. After the testing she had gone through she knew if she ever did get pregnant it was a miracle that it even happened and wanted a failsafe in place for the trajectory of her career. She talked to the General and put things in place for an unlikely event.

"Vaguely."

"Well, it happened," Sam says, a slight hitch in her breath as she speaks, "Doctor Fraiser confirmed it just now. That's why I can't go out."

"Well that does put quite a hitch in things," Hammond comments as he opens a drawer and digs through some papers inside before pulling out an envelope that had Sam's name on it. He flips it around in his hand a few times before pulling a set of papers inside out and reading them over, "You're certain about this still?"

"Yes, sir," Sam says, watching as Hammond scribbles his signature across the bottom of the paper before folding it up once again and putting it in the envelope. He grabs a second set of papers from inside and unfolds them before signing once again on the bottom.

"Major Samantha Carter you are relieved of your duty effective immediately. Doctor Samantha Carter, your position as Chief Scientist at the SGC begins tomorrow morning. 0800. We'll finish the rest of the formalities in the morning."

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir." Sam nods. She turns to leave before she's once again interrupted by the person behind her.

"Maj…Sam."

"Yes, sir?" Sam responds as she turns around.

"You don't have to call me sir anymore," Hammond smiles.

"It'll be a tough habit to break, sir," Sam smiles back.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir."

"You know, babies…they can have a tendency to come 'early'," He responds, arching his eyebrow in question while also managing to maintain a knowing look on his face. Sam nods slowly.

"Of course."

"Go home and get some rest."

"Thank you," Sam says again before leaving the office and closing the door quietly behind her. She makes her way back down the stairs and heads towards the infirmary again. She waits as Janet finishes up her last exam before making her way over and hopping up on the table again.

"How'd it go?"

"I'm officially retired," Sam heaves a sigh as she looks at her best friend.

"What?! Sam, that's a little drastic don't you think?" Janet exclaims as she continues to clean up from her evening of examinations, "It's not like you couldn't take a break from going off world until the baby's born."

"Janet, it's a decision I made a long time ago," Sam tells her as the doctor walks across the room to put the unused supplies back, grabbing a few things she'd need for Sam, "It's not like I'm leaving completely. I'll start tomorrow as Chief Scientist, a civilian position."

"So that's it, you just quit and take a civilian position? You're going to be okay with that?"

"I think so," Sam nods, taking the gown Janet hands her, "After we did all of the testing and everything…I knew if I ever did end up getting pregnant that I…I couldn't just take a year off to have a baby and come back to walk through the gate and leave them behind. We've been in binds before, Janet. And binds doesn't even cover it. I just spent a month in a goa'uld prison - what if I'd had a kid at home thinking I was dead..."

"Okay, okay, okay," Janet holds her hands up, "Go ahead and get changed, I'll be right back alright?"

"Mmhm," Sam nods getting off the table once Janet pulls the curtain. She changes into the gown and folds her clothes up, putting them on the chair next to the bed. She sighs as the paper crinkles under her weight before Janet speaks up.

"Decent?"

"As I can get in this thing," Sam says. Janet pulls back the curtain slightly and wheels an ultrasound into the shroud. She gives Sam a few additional exams than she had earlier before turning the ultrasound machine on.

"So first one's going to be an internal," Janet explains as she preps, "We'll use this probe to take a look instead of the usual wand."

"Great," Sam lets out dryly. She shifts uncomfortably when Janet inserts the probe before they both focus their attention on the fuzzy black and white screen, "Are you even going to be able to see anything this early?"

"Should be able to," Janet assures her before turning the screen more towards Sam, "There you go."

"That's it?"

"That's it," Janet nods, "Outer bubble is the gestational sack, and that little bean shaped thing is the embryo."

"How big is it?"

"Measurements say about 10 millimeters. Or if you'd like something tangible to compare it to, a blueberry."

"A blueberry?" Sam arches her eyebrow.

"Get ready to compare your baby to food for the next 33 weeks," Janet teases. She turns the monitor back to face herself more before taking a more thorough look at things, "We learned 'em all at med school. Grapefruits, cantaloupes, leeks."

"Leeks?"

"Leeks," Janet grins, "It helps a lot of women so they can grasp what's going on inside of them."

"I think we can just stick to measurements, I'm not comparing my child to a leek."

"Okay," Janet says playfully. She prints out a short strip of pictures before removing the probe and turning the machine off. She tears them off before handing them to Sam, "Everything is looking great so far. At least from what I can tell. Now we can set you up with an obstetrician from the Academy. I think there's a couple that have the appropriate clearance to take you on…"

"Can you do it?" Sam asks as she sits up and folds up the pictures in her lap.

"I…I mean I could, technically. I haven't done a lot of this in quite a while though."

"I'd be more comfortable…I trust you, Jan. You know that."

"Let me talk to some people, but I think we can make it work. So, pending any change in that I don't see why we can't start with the usual four weeks between appointments, if anything changes we'll re-evaluate. And I'll be putting your due date at March 7th. As you know this date can be flexible, babies show up when they want to."

"Right."

"Anything else I can do for you tonight?" Janet asks.

"No," Sam shakes her head as she looks at the pictures she'd been handed.

"Go home and get some rest."

"I know I don't have to say this, but I have to say it…" Sam says as she looks at Janet, "If and when he asks, just give him the usual…"

"I can't discuss your medical information with someone else."

"Yeah, that one."

"Of course," Janet nods with a soft smile, "I am going to head home."

"Have a good night," Sam bids, waiting for the doctor to leave before changing back into her clothes. She heads down to the locker room and gathers her things. She looks at the pictures one last time and stuffs them into her backpack before heading for the exit. Making her way over to her bike Sam hikes her leg over the hunk of metal and puts her helmet on. She starts the engine and settles in before flipping the kick stand and leaving the mountain in her dust.

* * *

[TBC]


	4. Chapter 4

In the morning Sam watches from the control room as SG-1 gets ready to leave for their mission. She was dressed in civilian clothes; black slacks, a crisp light blue shirt, black block heel boots. Jack looks up at her as he pulls his lucky cap on before focusing on the wormhole as it opens. A temporary assignment had been made to the team so they would have four people in Sam's absence, she knew it was going to take a lot longer than that to find a replacement for her. One of her first priorities was to start looking through personnel files to see who, in her opinion, would be the best fit. Not that it was going to meet Jack's opinion. Sam sighs softly, watching as the team marches up the ramp and through the gate before the open wormhole collapses.

"Doctor Carter?" General Hammond calls. She turns around and offers him a smile before following him up to his office. There was paperwork to do.

It's almost two weeks before SG-1 comes back from their mission, a little rough around the edges but with another victory against the goa'uld under their belt. Jack drops off a trinket in the lab on his way to the infirmary, dropping it on the table none so gently with a glare at Sam.

"Sir, I…" Jack walks away before Sam can complete her thought. She sighs and starts to process the item into their inventory, giving him a chance to cool off before approaching him again. She doesn't get a chance until later in the afternoon, close to the end of her day. She makes her way down to the commissary knowing that he was going to be getting dinner. She notices his tray is filled with food and he has files out in front of him so she takes her time to grab dinner herself before making her way to his table and sitting down across from him. Jack only tilts his head slightly to acknowledge that it was she that she had sat down with him. Sam picks her fork up and sticks it into the mashed potatoes on her plate, eating for a while before she says something, "I didn't have a choice, sir."

"To just up and retire in the middle of the night, leaving us a man down?"

"Yes," Sam says, "You know I wouldn't have done that if I didn't have a reason to."

"Do I? I don't seem to know much about you anymore. We've barely talked in weeks," Jack says, "I thought we were supposed to be figuring something out."

"Is me retiring not figuring things out?" Sam asks surprised that he had brought up their 'relationship' out in the open, "Communication works both ways, _Jack_."

"This is chicken shit scaredy cat stuff."

"You can't have expected me to lead some charge to change the rules, they've been around for decades and decades. They're not just going to change because of us," Sam whispers furiously as he finally looks up at her, "I'm not just here to watch you come and go from the gate. I stuck around, alright? I didn't just up and leave, Hammond gave me a civilian position to continue to help the SGC on it's mission. I'm doing everything I did before, just without going through the gate."

"Going through the gate is half the point!"

"I can't anymore!" Sam glares as she looks at him, "I can't."

"Why can't you? If we can do it, you can do it. I've never treated you any different than Daniel or Teal'c. You have never been a person that says 'I can't'," He throws at her

"You're not pregnant! I am," Sam hisses with a tinge of venom. At her admission her eyes flick around to make sure no one had heard. Thankfully the commissary was quiet this evening. Her eyes turn back to Jack as the red jello falls off of his spoon, "Can we please go somewhere else to discuss this?"

"Y-yeah," Jack stutters, quickly piling his things together before leading Sam out and towards his quarters. Once they arrive Jack tosses the things onto his bed before turning around as Sam closes the door quietly, "So you… I mean you're…"

"I'm pregnant," Sam tells him again, realizing he wasn't going to find any part of the sentence his brain seemed determined to try to form.

"When did this happen, uh, exactly?"

"Exactly? I'd have to say the entire weekend we spent in bed," Sam rolls her eyes, her voice dripping with a level of sarcasm that was unusual for her, "It's not like I have a line of suitors out the door."

"Right, right."

"Janet told me when I was getting my mission physical," Sam says as she sits down on the end of the bed, "I didn't want to distract you while you were gone so I waited. I don't…expect anything, sir. I know it was just one time and I know that this is a surprise. I can get a different job. I can do thi…"

"No!" Jack exclaims before retreating, "I mean. I'm sure you could do this on your own. You can do anything you put your mind to. I just…don't want you to."

"You don't want me to?" Sam asks, a furrow between her brow

"I want to be involved," Jack stresses, "I…I…"

"You?" Sam drawls.

"I love you, Sam," He admits, the words falling out surprisingly smooth. Sam's eyes widen as she looks up at him before she schools her features a little more.

"I thought you only 'liked' me."

"Carter," Jack groans and spins around on his heel. He paces a couple steps forward before turning back around and pinning her with a dark look. He steps towards her and looks down into the wide blue eyes that were looking up at him. He studies her for a moment before he nods and sits down next to her. He bumps his shoulder against hers a small crinkle around his eyes, "I also love you."

"I love you too," Sam replies easily as she whispers. She reaches out and brushes her fingers over his before threading her fingers through his. Jack squeezes her hand and leans over kissing her softly. Sam hums and kisses him back before pulling away a few moments later. They study each other quietly before he breaks the silence.

"Marry me," Jack asks abruptly as he looks into her eyes.

"What? No!" Sam exclaims and shakes her head, "Jack, I'm not going to marry you just because I'm pregnant. We haven't even gone on a date."

"What are you talking about we just had dinner together."

"I had mashed potatoes. That's not dinner, and the commissary is hardly the place for a date," Sam shakes her head with a small grin, "No. I'm not saying no forever necessarily but…not right now. I think we still need to get to know each other before we jump into things."

"Like having a kid together."

"Like having a kid together," Sam laughs and Jack smiles. He reaches up and strokes her cheek. Sam leans into his touch and sighs softly. She presses a kiss to his palm and sits up more, digging in the pocket of her lab coat. She pulls out the pictures that Janet had given her during her first exam, and holds them out to him, "They're a little old already but, I thought you'd like to see them."

"Definitely," Jack says as he unfolds the strip and looks at the grainy black and white pictures, "Look at that."

"What?"

"Smartest kid in the universe right there," Jack grins before handing the pictures back to her. Sam tucks them back into her pocket and pushes her self up from the bed, "You heading home or…"

"I am going to get more mashed potatoes if there's any left, and then I have a little bit of work I need to wrap up in the lab."

"Mind if I walk with you?"

"Not at all," Sam smiles. She and Jack make their way down the hall once more towards dinner. Sam notices the people whispering in the corners, while Jack seems oblivious.

"What's with the potatoes?" Jack asks.

"Hmm?" Sam hums as she looks up at him.

"Mashed potatoes?"

"Oh, bland enough it helps with the nausea," Sam says, "It's been a little bit of trial and error of what to not eat…and even still it's lasting all day."

"Ah," Jack nods, "That explains the…"

"…fighter run," Sam colors as she pushes her way through the commissary doors. She gathers another helping of mashed potatoes, sans the gravy, and a fork before standing at the end of the line waiting for Jack, "I do need to talk to you tomorrow about potential replacements for your team. I've pulled together some files and you'll need to start testing people out."

"Carterrrrr," Jack whines as he grabs his silverware. Sam rolls her eyes and wanders over to an empty table with him, standing as he sits down.

"Tomorrow, not right now," She tells him.

"Fine, put something on the books."

"You don't _have_ books," Sam reminds him, "Meet me in my lab at 1000 tomorrow morning, I'll only need an hour of your time."

"You got it," Jack mock salutes with his fork. Sam knocks her knuckles gently on the table with a smile before making a beeline for her lab. A couple moments after she leaves Teal'c and Daniel sit down across from Jack with their own trays. Daniel only lasts a couple of moments before he speaks.

"So how are things?"

"Oh for cryin' out loud," Jack drops his fork and rolls his eyes as he looks up from his food, "What?!"

"You and Sam were arguing?"

"You don't even try to be subtle about it anymore do you?" Jack gripes.

"I've figured out you don't do subtle," Daniel fires back the two of them staring each other down, "What's going on?"

"Carter's out," Jack replies, looking away from Daniel as he picks his fork up again and spears a piece of broccoli on his plate, "She's retiring…well retired. It's already processed."

"She retired!?" Daniel exclaims, his mouth gaping while Jack chews.

"Personal reasons. Hammond's keeping her on as a civilian in the science department. Running the whole thing if you can believe it," He informs them, the corner of his mouth turns up slightly.

"Does this mean MajorCarter will no longer be joining us on missions?"

"Yeah, T. No more going through the gate for her. At least for a while. I'm sure she won't be able to stay away," Jack replies as he continues to eat slowly. Daniel open and closes his mouth a couple times and Jack rolls his eyes as he looks at the archeologist, "What Daniel?"

"I…I mean that's extremely abrupt. She seemed fine before you guys left for Area 51. Did something happen?" Daniel inflects as he looks at Jack with an arched eyebrow.

"She's fine. It's just something she had to do," Jack answers, "I'm sure now that we're back she'll talk to you guys."

Sam leaves the base a little before eight that evening and makes her way home, making a quick pitstop at the grocery store. She smiles when she sees a giant truck parked in her driveway on the opposite side of where she parks. She pulls her car into the garage and grabs the groceries out of the back seat, watching with interest as she sees no movement from the truck. She makes her way over and laughs softly as she finds Jack asleep in the front seat, his head pressed against the driver's side window. She taps her knuckles on the glass and grins as he starts awake and yawns as he moves to open the door.

"You have a key, couldn't you have just gone inside?"

"I didn't think you were going to be so long," Jack says as he climbs down, automatically reaching out to take the paper grocery bag from her.

"Thanks. How long have you been here?"

"Time is it?"

"About 845."

"Bout an hour."

"Sorry, if I had known that you were waiting…" Sam trails off as she opens the door to the house and reaches up to press the button to close the garage door. Jack sets the groceries on the counter before turning around and wrapping his arms around her waist, "Well hello there."

"Hi," Jack whispers before pulling her into a hug. Sam wraps her arms around him easily, a surprised look on her face. She didn't think that Jack O'Neill was the kind of person to just randomly hug someone. After a few moments Jack whispers again, "Stop thinking."

"Sorry, I'm just…"

"I know," Jack says as he pulls back, leaving his hands on her hips, "I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I meant what I said earlier. I want to be involved in this, as much as you'll let me."

"I'm looking forward to it," She tells him, her hand resting on his chest.

"Daniel and Teal'c…I told them that you retired. But that's all I told them," He explains to her, "I thought I should warn you before you get cornered tomorrow morning when you go in."

"Thank you for the warning," She laughs softly, "I will tell them eventually, maybe a couple weeks…"

"Well at least tell Daniel you're not dying."

"I will do that," She grins.

"I also wanted to ask you to dinner."

"Well, it's a little late…"

"Not tonight. How about Thursday? I can pick you up at six, and we can go get dinner. And get to know each other, outside of the mountain."

"Thursday night hmm? I don't get Friday?"

"Well, I have to leave my Friday night open for some other options. You have to work your way up to Friday's actually," Jack teasingly explains

"You leave on a mission to P4X-938 on Friday afternoon," Sam points out.

"I leave on a mission to P4X-938 on Friday afternoon," Jack laughs. Sam smiles up at him and nods.

"Thursday night sounds great."

* * *

[TBC]


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday afternoon Sam leaves work a little early to head home and get ready for her 'date' with Jack. She lets herself into the house and drops her purse by the front door before heading to the living room to turn the stereo on, cranking up the volume a little bit. She hums along to the song as she climbs the stairs to her bedroom. The doors to her closet get thrown open and she starts to flip through the series of dresses she had hanging. Most of the pieces were rather closeted and modest, decent enough if she ever ran into anyone from base in town. There were her Class A's that Jack had looked her up and down a couple extra times in. She had a couple sets of skirts and blouses for those. Some blouses for work, a couple of skirts, and then a few of what she would consider her "date" dresses. She pulls out two and lays them out on the bed.

One was a classic black, the other was a deep sapphire blue. The black was sleeveless, dipped a little low, but was usually softened with a pastel cardigan. It brushed her knees and she could usually pair with with a pair of flats she had or a pair of heels depending on her date. It was standard, it was simple, it got the job done. The sapphire however, the sapphire she wore when she wanted to stun. The dress was a long sleeve boat neck that showed off her shoulders and collarbone. It scooped low in the back and hit a few inches above her knee to really show off some leg.

Sam had no idea where he was taking her. The both times he'd asked her on a date he had just said to have dinner with him. The first time he'd mentioned a nice Italian restaurant. She wasn't sure what qualified as nice to Jack. If they'd end up going to Olive Garden or to the trendy new place downtown. This time he hadn't mentioned anything specifically. She sighs as she looks at the dresses, tugging on the hem of the black one. She knew it was the safer choice, it would really fit in anywhere they went. But the sapphire was so appealing. She already felt like she only had a couple more months she could 'flaunt it' before her pregnancy really kicked in, not that she was going to let it impact her style any. Sam snorts to herself, right style. Her mandated style for the last twenty years had been BDUs in varying colors of Air Force blue, grey, black, or military green.

Sam puts away the black dress and grabs the shoes for the sapphire dress along with a fresh set of lingerie that went specifically with the dress. She picks out some jewelry before heading into the bathroom to shower and clean up. Once she gets out of the shower she takes the time to do her hair, getting the short cut to fall in some semblance of waves before starting on her makeup, only adding a little bit more oomph to her daily ritual. She puts her earrings in and clasps her necklace on, a small diamond set that had belonged to her mother. Oh god she still had to talk to her father about all of this.

She shakes her head to get rid of that thought deciding to tackle it when she came to it. His appearances since joining the tok'ra were sporadic and she didn't just want to call him because of a personal issue. She supposed she should probably let her brother know as she starts getting dressed. She and Mark were never close, but she knew he would want to know and if she could tell him before telling her father that would get her some brownie points in the end.

Sam frowns as she finds herself busting at the seams in the bra she'd specifically purchased to go with the dress. Another fashion issue she would need to fix. She'd spent most of her time in sports bras while at work and only had a few regular ones that still fit right. She flings the scrap of fabric onto the bed and decides to go topless as she pulls the dress on. She tugs up the zipper and straightens the fabric out in a few places before looking at herself in the mirror. Oh, she looked good. She hears the rumble of Jack's truck outside and looks out the bedroom window just in time to see him pull into the drive. She pulls her shoes on and makes her way downstairs, grabbing her purse just as he rings the doorbell. She unlocks the door and pulls it open a bright smile on her face.

"Hi."

"Whoa…" Jack mumbles as he looks her over giving Sam a moment to look him over, letting out an internal 'whoa' herself. He was dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a white shirt open at the collar. He even had shined shoes on. He looked like a walking GQ dream.

"You look great," They both say at the same time, earning a laugh and diverted eyes in response. Jack clears his throat and scratches the side of his head as he looks up at her again.

"So, ready to go?"

"Let me just turn the music off and then we can go," Sam says before walking off towards the living room to turn the stereo off. Jack gulps as he catches sight of the back of her dress, the low dip taunting him as she disappears around the corner for a moment. She comes back a moment later, throwing another thousand watt smile in his direction as she pulls the door closed and locks it, "So where are we headed?"

"I got us reservations at that trendy new place downtown if you're interested," Jack offers as he puts his hand on the small of her back and walks her over to his truck. He opens the door for her and moves around to help her up only to find himself half hard at the image of her heaving herself up into the cab in high heels and the tiny sapphire colored dress.

"Sounds great," Sam breathes with a soft smile. Jack closes the door and jogs around to the driver's side of the truck, pulling himself up as well. He backs out of her driveway and points them towards downtown.

"How was the rest of your day?" Jack asks as they drive along. He had stopped by earlier in the day to review the candidate pool that she had given him. They had worked together with the upcoming mission calendar to decide how to test people out. He felt a little more confident afterward that they would at least find a worthwhile replacement, but he was confident they would never replace Sam.

"Fine, I spent most of the afternoon taking apart…" Jack zones out a little bit as she talks, trying to pop in a question occasionally until they pull up in front of the restaurant. He manages to find them a parking spot on the street, backing into it expertly before cutting the engine and jumping down. He goes around to Sam's side and opens the door for her, helping her down from her perch before hitting the lock button on his keys, "Anyway. We still have to get it to work, but I have some ideas for tomorrow."

"That's good," Jack smiles at her as they walk towards the restaurant. He holds the door open for her when they approach and gives the host his name once they're inside. The two of them are lead to a table for two in the middle of the restaurant and each given a menu before they're left to wait for their waiter. Jack gives the menu a quick skim, zoning in on the fact that they had mashed potatoes as a side deciding to joke with Sam, "I swear if you get mashed potatoes tonight…"

"Oof, I think I'm over them already…though these have cheese on them…" Sam says with slight interest as she finds the item on the menu. She looks up as the waiter comes over, offering a slight smile as they're read the specials for the evening before being asked what they wanted to drink.

"I think I'll stick with water," Sam says before looking across at Jack.

"Ah, Guinness?"

"Of course, sir," The waiter nods before going to get Jack's beer.

"Ah, ah, ah," Jack stops him after coming to his senses, "Is it on tap?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, thanks," Jack lets him go before looking back at his menu, noticing Sam looking at him with a bemused grin, "What?"

"Is it on tap?"

"I refuse to drink it out of a can," Jack says with a false air of pretentiousness. Sam laughs and shakes her head as she looks down at her menu. He gives her a couple minutes to peruse before speaking up, "So what looks good?"

"The salmon dish sounds good to me, maybe some asparagus on the side. What about you?"

"The hangar steak was getting me," Jack says as he closes his menu just as the waiter comes back with his beer, setting it down on the table.

"Have you two decided what you'd like to order or did you still need a few minutes?"

"I think we're ready," Jack replies, looking at Sam for permission. She nods and closes her menu as well handing it over to him, "I will take the hangar steak, medium. And the lady will have the salmon with a side of asparagus."

"The chef generally cooks that a little more on the medium rare side did you…"

"Cooked through, please."

"Alright, I will put those in for you," The waiter smiles before retreating once again.

"I thought you couldn't eat fish," Jack points out, remembering the doctor telling them when Sara was pregnant with Charlie.

"Sushi, and stuff that's super high in mercury," Sam explains, "At least that's what Janet told me. No lunchmeat or soft cheeses either."

"Weird…"

"It has to do with bacteria," Sam explains lightly before taking a drink of her water, "So, Jonathon O'Neill…what's a boy like you doing in a place like this?"

"What's a girl like you doing with a boy like me in a place like this?" Jack counters with a grin.

The two of them spend a while at dinner, talking and chatting over their meals and dessert before Jack pays the bill and they make their way back to the truck. He drives her home in a comfortable silence and parks the truck in the driveway before getting out and going around to her side, helping her down. He walks her up to her door and stops her as she digs to get her keys out.

"Sam…" Jack says softly. Sam looks up at him with a bit of nervousness in her eyes, her keys dangling in her fingers, "I had a really, really great time tonight."

"Me too," Sam breathes out, giving Jack a wide smile. He leans down and presses his lips to hers, drawing her into a deep kiss, putting his hands on her hips. Sam drops her keys back into her purse and places her hands on his chest as she kisses him back, moaning as she melts into his hold. They pull apart after a few moments and Sam slowly opens her eyes, offering a hazy smile at her companion, "That was nice."

"That was very nice," Jack agrees, pecking her lips softly once more, "My beautiful girl."

"I'd invite you in, but…I'd like to take this a little slow," Sam mumbles against his lips, her skin flushing at his compliment. Her insides tingled at the way that he immediately called her his.

"Okay," Jack agrees as he kisses her again. Sam succumbs for a few moments before pushing her date back and giving him a look. He grins and winks at her, pulling her hand from his chest, "Good night, Samantha."

"Good night, Jonathon." Jack waits for Sam to go inside and lock the door before walking back to his truck, a little pep in his step.

A week later finds Sam laying on her back in the infirmary, hoping that Jack was going to show his face before the end of her appointment with Janet.

"Did I miss anything?" Jack asks as he jogs into the infirmary and Sam peels her eyes away from the ceiling. His meeting with General Hammond had run over and he was getting antsy as he looked at each clock he passed on his way down, not wanting to miss Sam's first official appointment.

"Just the boring stuff," Sam assures him with a smile.

"How's everything looking?"

"Just fine," Janet assures him as she pulls the ultrasound machine over, "We are going to try the regular wand today, see if we can't get a good picture. Shirt up please."

Sam rolls the bottom of her shirt up and shifts her pants down slightly. Janet tucks a piece of cloth into the front of Sam's pants before grabbing the bottle of gel off of the cart. She gives it a good shake before telling Sam it was going to be cold as she squirts some out onto her stomach. Sam jumps at the icy coolness of the gel before relaxing as it starts to warm. Janet grabs the regular wand and turns the machine on before starting to scan across Sam's stomach. She presses deeper as she moves lower before smiling as she finds what she's looking for.

"A lot bigger than the last time we took a look," Janet tells them as she does her own initial exam before turning the screen to face them.

"Oh my god," Sam's eyes widen as she looks at the ultrasound. A few weeks before she'd been looking at a bean shaped blob, now it actually looked like something resembling a baby, "That's...that's..."

"Pretty crazy huh?" Janet smiles.

"Yeah," Sam breathes out with a nod, "How big is it?"

"Within normal range, but on the larger side. About 7 centimeters."

"What does that mean?" Jack asks, finally poking his nose in. Janet snickers as Sam rolls her eyes, knowing they weren't going to get around the no food rule she'd invoked the last time.

"About the size of a lime, sir. Give or take."

"Ah, more sense."

"Really? That makes more sense to you than seven centimeters?" Sam asks.

"Not all of us are astrophysicists, Carter," Jack reminds her in a playfully snotty tone.

"You are such a smart alec, you know what centimeters are," Sam calls him out.

"Children," Janet reprimands, "I'm beginning to see this kid's personality already."

Sam laughs and Jack glares at Janet before she sweetly smiles at him and presses another button on the machine and a soft whooshing fills the room at a rapid pace. Behind it is a heavier thumping, slower, but keeping in time with the rapid whooshes.

"What is that?" Sam asks as she listens.

"That is the heartbeat," Janet tells them, "Faster one is the fetus, slower one is yours Sam."

"That's it's heart?"

"Mmhm, strong and steady," Janet says as she looks at the rate on the screen. Sam looks up at Jack and gives him a bright smile, squeezing his hand tight in hers. Janet lets the heartbeat go for a few more moments before printing out pictures and turning off, handing Sam a couple of kleenex, "Everything looks good from my point of view, any questions?"

"I don't think so," Sam shakes her head and looks at Jack as she cleans off her stomach, "You?"

"No I'm good," Jack shakes his head, "When are we doing this again?"

"Every four weeks," Janet tells him as she makes notes on Sam's chart, "I would like to do an ultrasound each time. I know it seems excessive, but with you two we're dealing with some... _physiological oddities_. So I want to keep an eye on growth and everything."

"You don't think there's anything wrong do you?"

"No, no, no, no, no. I just want to keep an eye on things," Janet reassures them with a soft smile.

"Okay," Sam nods and fixes her outfit before standing up, "Anything else today?"

"I don't think so," Janet smiles at her, "I'm always here if you have any questions."

"Thanks Janet," Sam replies with a smile before following Jack out, "Meeting run over?"

"Yes," Jack groans, "I thought it was never going to end."

"Oh you poor thing," Sam teases as she folds her lab coat over her arm, "I have to get back, I was running some tests when I left."

"When am I going to see you again?" Jack asks, lowering his voice after looking around the empty hallway.

"I'm busy this afternoon and you're leaving in the morning."

"After work?"

"If you want to go grocery shopping."

"Sure!" Jack jumps at the chance to spend a little bit of time with Sam, "I'll meet you at your place at six?"

"Okay," Sam laughs and backs away from him before heading in the opposite direction. Jack tilts his head as he watches her walk away. He couldn't decide if he liked her ass in tight slacks or her BDUs more. He shakes his head to clear his mind before going back to what he was doing.

Later in the day, Jack pulls into Sam's driveway at 5:55 and jumps out of the truck after he turns it off. He makes his way up to Sam's front door and rings the doorbell, jumping when Sam opens it a millisecond later and leaves it open as she runs up the stairs.

"Be ready in a second."

"Take your time," Jack says as he steps inside and shuts the door behind him. Sam comes bouncing down a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, holding a pair of tennis shoes.

"I got back from work late and was just going to change when you got here," Sam explains as she sits down on a bench in her entryway to put her shoes on.

"I am in no rush," Jack tells her, holding his hands up, "I just have to be on base at 0700 tomorrow, what we do until then is completely open."

"You wish," Sam arches her eyebrow as she looks up at him before getting up and grabbing her purse from the entry table, "Ready?"

"Always," Jack says, opening the door and holding his hand out, "After you."

"Smartalec," Sam shakes her head with a grin before walking out and waiting for him to shut the door. She locks up before walking with Jack towards the car, unlocking it remotely. Jack gets into the passenger side and finds himself squished up against the dashboard.

"Christ, Carter. Who was the last person to sit here?"

"Cassie," Sam tells him as she thinks back. Jack finds the adjustment lever and pulls it before pushing back the seat quite a few notches, extending his legs. "Shorty."

"About a foot shorter than you," Sam notes as she turns the engine on and backs out of the driveway. She looks over as she drives towards the grocery store and finds Jack staring at her, "What?"

"Nothing, I just like looking at you," Jack replies.

"Who knew you were such a romantic," Sam teases as she reaches out and pinches his cheek. Jack slaps her hand away, making her laugh.

"I miss having you on our missions," Jack admits.

"You've only gone out a few times since I left."

"Still, enough," Jack shrugs, "You sure you want to be retired? I get that you can't go through the gate right now, and that I'd still have to spend a year without you on the team anyway, but what about after?"

"After I'll have a baby to look after and care for," Sam reminds him, "I didn't make this decision lightly. Besides...if I undo all of that, we don't get to have...this."

"What? Me going to the grocery store with you?"

"Yes! This all goes away if I ever go back in. You know how strict the frat regs are...even now someone could potentially investigate us for working in the same office."

"Why can't I have both?" Jack whines.

"Cause life's a bitch," Sam pats him on the leg before pulling into the parking lot of the grocery store. She finds a parking space relatively close to the door and puts the car into park before looking over at Jack. She strokes his cheek as she studies his face, sensing his inner turmoil, "I can't leave our baby behind for both of us to go jump around on other planets and fight aliens. It's bad enough that you'll still be doing that..."

"I know," Jack sighs. Sam leans over and presses a kiss to his temple before pulling back and patting his cheek.

"Come on, come buy groceries with me."

"I will come buy groceries with you," Jack says, sitting up more before getting out of the car. Sam waits for him at the bumper before falling into step with him as they head inside. Jack grabs a cart for them and pushes it along side Sam as she shops. Occasionally he grabs something and throws it in the cart as they make their way through the store in a compatible silence. Once they get to the checkout lanes Jack takes charge of loading things onto the belt. Sam hands him the bread and eggs at the end before pushing the cart forward.

"Paper or plastic?"

"Paper, please," Sam responds as she digs her wallet out of her purse. Jack loads the bags into the the cart as the bagger finishes them. He goes to push Sam out of the way before she can swipe her card, using his body to create a wall between her and the credit card machine, "Jack!"

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm paying, Carter," Jack tells her as he swipes his card. He eyeballs her before using his hand to cover the PIN pad.

"Oh my god," Sam rolls her eyes and crosses her arms as she glares at the back of his head, "You are such a..."

"Generous human being?" Jack says as he takes the receipt and tucks it in into one of the bags before pushing the cart towards the exit.

"I was going to use exactly none of those words."

"I believe what you're looking for is, 'Thank you, Jack'."

"Thank you, Jack," Sam says reluctantly as she follows him out to the car, "You didn't have to do that you know?"

"I know," Jack says waiting for her to open the trunk. He loads everything in and Sam takes the cart back to the corral before meeting him back at the car and getting in. Sam takes Jack's hand in hers as they drive back to her house, her thumb stroking back and forth over his knuckles. Jack watches with interest as she seems to do it absentmindedly as she makes her way home. This time she pulls into the garage and cuts the engine before pressing the button for the trunk release. She squeezes Jack's hand before letting go and getting out of the car. She goes around to the back of the car and grabs a bag out before heading towards the door into the house, "Here let me take that."

"I've got it," Sam assures him with a smile as she twists out of his way before continuing her mission to get to the door, "It's the light bag. There's plenty of heavy ones for you to grab."

"Perfect," Jack says as he heads for the trunk, grabbing up a few bags before following her inside. He sets the bags down on the island before going out to get the rest. Sam shakes her head at him and begins to unload, figuring he wasn't going to let her lift another bag (or anything else it seemed) for the rest of the evening. Jack closes the door with his foot after he gets the last bags, shoving them up onto the counter.

"You know I'm allowed to carry things right? I didn't suddenly lose all of my lifting capability when I got pregnant."

"I know, I just…thought I'd help."

"Okay," Sam says skeptically as she offers him one of the bags of chips that he had put in the cart, "You can go turn the tv on if you want. It'll only take a few minutes for me to put this away."

"Alright," Jack takes the bag from her and heads towards the living room. Sam continues putting the groceries away before folding the bags up and putting them in her recycling bin. She takes her shoes off and grabs a can of diet soda and a bottle of beer before heading towards the living room as well. She sinks down on the couch next to Jack and holds the bottle out towards him before popping the tab on the can. She takes a sip before setting the can on the coffee table. She settles into his side and puts her feet up next to his, smiling as his arm automatically comes around her shoulders.

"What are we watching?"

"Simpsons reruns," Jack responds as he holds the bottle between his legs and twists the top off with his free hand. He tosses the cap onto the table before taking a sip, "Unless you wanted to watch something else."

"No, this is fine," Sam says, sighing softly as she smoothes her hand over her stomach, straightening out her shirt. Jack notices after a few episodes that she's fallen asleep, the empty can of soda barely encased in her fingers. He sets his bottle down and takes the can from her, setting it next to the bottle. He shifts his position and easily lifts her frame into his arms. He carries her upstairs and lays her in bed, draping a blanket over her before heading back downstairs. He cleans up in the living room and turns the light off before going to put the chips away in the kitchen. He opens and closes a few cupboards before finding the right one, rolling up the top of the bag before putting it inside. He finds a piece of scrap paper in one of the drawers and leaves a small note before he turns the light off in the kitchen and leaves the house, making sure to lock the door behind himself.

* * *

[TBC]


	6. Chapter 6

"Carter," Jack says as he walks into her lab, picking up the first thing he can get his hands on as she finishes talking to one of the other scientists and signing off on a form. She was dressed in navy slacks and a maroon top he'd never seen before. If you looked at the right angle her belly was starting to stretch out the waist of the shirt and the pants. He grins as the young girl scuttles away, leaving them alone.

"Yes, sir, what can I do for you?" Sam asks as she takes the item out of Jack's hands and puts it down on the table where it had been.

"Fishing?"

"Noooo," Sam draws out with a confused look, "I'm working."

"I mean do you want to go fishing?" Jack clarifies as he picks up something else. Sam sighs and decides to let him fidget with that one, deciding it wasn't going to do any harm to her work.

"I'm kind of in the middle of a work day here."

"I've got time off, come to Minnesota with me tonight."

"It's Wednesday."

"Take some vacation time."

"I was planning on saving that for a few months from now," She says with a pointed look.

"Carterrrr."

"Sir."

"It's two days, please, we can leave tonight, spend the weekend there."

"Leave tonight? I'd have to organize what everyone's going to do for two days, and pack."

"I can pack for you."

"Jack, I need a little more notice than five hours before," Sam tells him. Jack frowns and sighs.

"Fine."

"Look, if I can get a flight on Friday after work I'll come up and spend the weekend with you. It's not that I don't want to go. I just have stuff that I need to do."

"No, no, it's fine. You'll come on Friday if you can."

"I have a meeting I need to go to. If I don't see you before you leave…" Sam leans up and pecks his cheek. She squeezes his arm before escaping from her lab and heading off down the hall. Jack sighs and puts the thing in his hands down before going to change so he could go home and pack.

Sam finds her path interrupted later in the afternoon when General Hammond stops her in the hall on her way back to her lab.

"Sir."

"Doctor Carter, I'm surprised you're still on base."

"Why's that?" Sam asks confused.

"I was under the impression that Colonel O'Neill was going to be spending his time off in Minnesota. I thought he might have asked you to join him."

"Ah, he did, sir. I told him I couldn't get away on such short notice. I thought I'd go up for the weekend," Sam explains.

"Your time off request has been granted."

"Ah...sir?" Sam tilts her head.

"I need you to go with him. He has been unconscionably irritating lately."

"That's his normal personality, sir. There's not much I can do about that."

"If he goes to Minnesota without you he will be worse when he gets back, and I don't know if I can stop myself from court marshaling him for simply being too much of a smart alec," Hammond explains, "I'll give you the time off, free of charge, if you just go with him and take your cell phone with you in case there's any reason we need to contact you."

"Sir, I can't just..."

"Don't make me make it an order."

"Yes, sir," Sam sighs, knowing he couldn't order her around but falling victim to the stern Texas accent anyway, "Let me just let everyone know I'll be out and then I'll head home to pack."

"Good. Have a good weekend."

"Thank you, sir," Sam side steps the General before continuing on her way back to the lab. She packs up what she had been working on and exchanges her lab coat for her purse on the rack in the corner. She makes her way down to the group labs and goes through letting everyone know that she would be out for the next two days and to call her on her cell if they needed anything.

Sam makes her way to the top of the mountain and heads home, grabbing a small suitcase she had in the closet before starting to toss clothes in it. She didn't even know what the weather was supposed to be but assumed that it would be at least a little summer like. She packs one pair of pants and a sweatshirt before zipping up and changing into something more comfortable to travel in, deciding that her shirt was still okay but changing her slacks out for jeans and her work shoes out for a pair of sandals. She just about walks out of the bedroom with her suitcase before turning back and going into the bathroom, stuffing various toiletries into the outer pocket along with her cellphone charger. She zips that pocket up before finally heading downstairs and leaving, heading for the airport.

She makes her way up to the ticket counter for the airline she knew Jack flew, requesting a ticket for the flight to Duluth. The flight was more expensive, but Jack had worked out a deal to be able to keep his Jeep at the airport free of charge since it also functioned as an Air Force hub. And then it was less of a drive to the cabin on the other side.

"Was there a gentleman here earlier that purchased a ticket for the flight?"

"Just about twenty minutes ago."

"Is there any way I could get the seat next to him?"

"Um, sure. Just one second," Sam waits as she taps on the keyboard for a few moments before giving her the total for the flight. She hands her credit card over and thanks the woman when she hands her her card back along with the ticket, asking her to sign on the bottom of a receipt. Sam scribbles her signature before thanking the woman and heading for security. It only takes her a few minutes to get through, not too many people at the Colorado Springs airport, well...ever really.

Sam looks at the ticket for the gate they were leaving out of before heading in that direction, easily spotting Jack sitting and waiting for the plane with a duffel bag at his feet. He looked irritated as he waited for the plane to start boarding and Sam could only imagine how he had been acting around the General and the rest of the team. She makes her way over and wheels her bag up next to him before asking if the seat was taken when he doesn't lift his head.

"Yeah it's all..." Jack's eyes widen a bit as he processes the voice that had just spoken before lifting his head and looking up at Sam.

"Apparently I'm here to stop you from being unconscionably irritable."

"That's a big word."

"I don't like having to take off work because I'm supposed to be your handler."

"You're not my handler."

"And yet the General seems to think I am," Sam says dryly taking a seat next to him.

"You don't have to come you know? You could have just taken the two days off," Jack gripes. Sam sighs and drops her head back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before lifting her head and turning to look at him.

"Jack, I always wanted to come. But I don't get rack time anymore. I have to think about how I'm going to use my vacation time. Right now a lot of it is allotted to the baby because I don't know what's going to happen in the next six months."

"You should have negotiated for unlimited vacation time," Jack says after a few more quiet moments of stewing. Sam laughs and nudges him with her shoulder.

"Oh I'm sure the federal government would have loved that."

"What do they know? I'm pretty sure we're already in debt, what's a couple of your vacation days worth?"

"You just want to know how much money I make," Sam replies teasingly.

"It's more than I make isn't it?"

"It's more than I used to make, though if it's more than you I have no idea. I always assumed they had to up the ante a little bit when you came back in."

"Adjusted for inflation with a pay bump," Jack shrugs.

"Well, if you keep wooing me one day I might let you see my checkbook."

"That's really what I've been going for you know. The checkbook, nothing else," Jack grins. Sam laughs and shakes her head before looking up as they call boarding for their flight.

"Is this flight ever full?" Sam asks as she regards the short line of people.

"Not when I've been on it. I'm always surprised they still fly it," Jack says as they stand and get into line.

"Probably because of you," She tells him as she hands her ticket over to be scanned. She makes her way onto the plane and finds their seats relatively close to the front. She grabs the handle of her bag and hefts it up into the overhead bin before she feels Jack's body press against her back as he puts his bag in next to hers.

"I wish you would let me get that."

"And I wish you wouldn't be such a caveman, but we can't always get what we want," Sam smiles at him as she slips into the window seat.

"Hey, I got the window seat."

"Well now I have the window seat," Sam says as she pats the middle seat for him. Jack sighs and sinks down into the middle seat as he looks at his girlfriend.

"You know you're a pai..."

"I'm a what?" Sam interrupts, giving him a doe eyed look.

"Perfect angel is what I was going to say."

"Sure it was," Sam pecks him on the lips before busying herself with buckling her seatbelt. She pulls the strap tight and sighs as she settles back in her seat with her hand on her stomach. She'd developed the habit after she had noticed a bit of a belly showing, but was trying to be conscious of it while she was at work during the day. Jack settles in his seat and rolls his head to look over at Sam who was looking out the window. He nudges her hand with his knuckle to get her attention.

"How's the nugget?"

"Fine," Sam smiles, surprised that he had asked. They rarely ever talked about the baby directly. Some days their relationship just seemed like a deeper friendship than the two of them actually dating. They were cautiously stepping around each other, almost afraid to make the other aware they were there, "Just doing that growing thing right now."

"How are you?"

"Better than I was a couple weeks ago. The nausea is finally going away and I actually feel like eating things. More energy. I feel bad that I've fallen asleep on you the last few times we went back to my place."

"Don't worry about it," Jack shakes his head, "You need your rest."

"You sound almost as bad as Janet," Sam grins, "You should hear how high her voice gets if I'm still in my lab past 1800."

"I'd try to get my voice that high but you'd probably pass out from laughing."

"Probably," Sam nods in agreement. She looks up and away from Jack as she listens to the flight attendant announcements as well as the safety walkthrough. Once they're done and the plane starts to taxi across the runways she turns her attention back to Jack, "What time are we supposed to get there? I didn't even look."

"About 2000 or so and then it's another two hours to the cabin. We can stop at a store in Duluth and get groceries or I can go into town tomorrow and pick some stuff up."

"Tonight should be fine, that way we won't have to run out in the morning."

"Sounds good."

It was close to midnight by the time they had stopped for groceries and gotten to the cabin. Jack pulls into the small gravel drive and turns the engine off, nudging Sam awake.

"Carter..."

"Mmm."

"We're here, you need to get up."

"Mmmkay," Sam groans and stretches out as she straightens up, her top riding up for a moment to reveal a swath of milky white skin, "Time is it?"

"2345," Jack answers after looking at his watch. He gets out of the jeep and grabs their bags out of the back seat before grabbing the groceries.

"Jack I can grab some of those," Sam says as she climbs down from the passenger seat, barely seeing him packed down with all of their belongings in the moonlight.

"I've got it, just grab the keys."

"Where are they?"

"Front pocket," Jack replies. Sam gives him a look before standing in front of him.

"Dare I ask which one?"

"Left," Jack tells her, jumping as she starts digging around in his right pocket, "Ah, ah, ah. My left."

"Jack O'Neill," Sam sighs as she switches pockets before grabbing the keys and heading towards the door. She manages to get the key into the lock and unlock the door, pushing her way in, "Ugh, it is hot in here."

"Light's on the right, go ahead and open the windows," Jack says as he carries everything inside. He drops the groceries in the kitchen and walks Sam's bag to the guest room before dropping his in his room, "I usually have someone come by and open up but I didn't get the chance this time."

"That's okay," Sam says from right behind him. Jack jumps at her proximity.

"Jesus! You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry," Sam apologizes. She points at the guest room, "My room?"

"Yeah, bathroom's across the hall, you saw the kitchen and living room when we came in...and that's about it," Jack shrugs.

"You mind if I take a shower real quick?"

"No, go ahead. Let me grab you some towels," He replies before going to the hall closet and getting out two towels, handing them out to Sam, "Hot water knob is a little finicky, so don't crank it up super high."

"Got it," Sam replies waiting for Jack to move out of her way. After a couple moments she clears her throat, "Are you…"

"Oh! Sorry," Jack steps back out of her way, "All yours."

"Thanks," Sam smiles and steps inside, closing the door behind herself. Jack shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair as he walks into his room. He kicks the door closed behind himself and digs through his bag, changing into his pajamas which only consisted of a pair of gym shorts considering the temperature. He opens his door to go to the kitchen for a glass of water only to run smack dab into a wet, towel clad Sam. She lets out a noise of surprise as she tips over at the unexpected run in.

"Shit!" Jack exclaims, reaching out to catch her before she can fall to the floor, leaving her awkwardly in his grip with the towel barely draped over the important parts, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Sam straightens herself up and backs herself into the guest room before slamming the door shut. Jack groans and continues his trip to the kitchen, grabbing a beer instead before heading back towards his room. He shuts off the light in the bathroom and leaves the door open for it to air out before knocking lightly on Sam's door.

"I'm going to head to bed, I'll see you in the morning?"

"What time?" Sam asks as she opens the door slightly, poking her head around.

"Uh, whenever you get up. No rush."

"Okay, night."

"Night," Jack replies before she closes the door again. He drops his head gently against the wood and sighs to himself, "Smooth."

Jack retires to his room, leaving the door open a crack with an old, cast-iron iron keeping it from blowing open as he opens the window facing the pond. He shakes out his blankets and fluffs the pillows before collapsing into bed and sighing as he sinks into the old mattress. He bends his arm behind his head and looks up at the ceiling, watching the pattern of the curtains move and sway in the moonlight.

It had been a good six weeks since Sam had told him she was pregnant. Since they had started going out. And things only seemed to be getting more awkward as time went on. He knew she wanted to take things slow, but he didn't know how to…He just wanted to _be_ around her, to not have to think about his actions and comments. He was hoping this weekend would help with that.

After a while Jack drifts off to sleep, sleeping fitfully through the night until he wakes up late morning with the sun already shining through the curtains. He looks at the clock on his nightstand, surprised to see that it was after nine. He takes a deep inhale, scents of coffee and food wafting through the air. Jack pushes himself out of bed and grabs a t-shirt off the top of his bag before heading down the hall as he pulls it on.

"Something smells good."

"Want some?" Sam asks as she looks over her shoulder, taking a bite of a piece of bacon. She was dressed in a worn in Air Force t-shirt and a pair of jogging shorts standing in front of his stove making breakfast. Jack sidles up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. His hands slip under her t-shirt and rest over her stomach as he leans forward to take a bite out of the piece of bacon she still had in her hand.

"What do you got?" He asks with a full mouth as he nuzzles her neck.

"Uhm, bacon and eggs. Some toast if you want it," Sam replies, fighting the urge to relax in his hold.

"Don't fight it, Sam," Jack whispers as he presses a soft kiss to her neck, "Please, don't fight it."

"Jack, I thought we…"

"We did," He says as he pulls away and leans against the counter next to her, "But you can't tell me this hasn't been weird Sam. And it's not weird because we shouldn't be doing this, it's weird because we're not doing it as well as we can."

"I just…I didn't want anything we did to be rash. I mean I told you I was pregnant and you asked me to marry you."

"I know, and I won't do that again…Well I can't promise that. But it'll be a more appropriate time, I swear," Jack says with a charming grin, "But we know each other, we're good around each other. Can't we just be normal?"

"So, that was normal?" Sam says after a beat, a small smile playing on her lips.

"It was for me," Jack replies softly, "What about you?"

"It was…nice," Sam says, taking a moment to search for the right word. Jack smiles at the soft, easy smile on her face and steps closer, leaning down to press his lips to hers in a soft kiss. Sam hums and kisses him back gently before pulling away and smiling, "Just like that was nice."

"So, what's for breakfast?" Jack asks.

"Still eggs and bacon," Sam replies before nodding towards the loaf of bread on the counter, "Why don't you make some toast?"

"I can do that," Jack nods and undoes the twist tie on the bread, loading up the toaster as he watches Sam take the rest of the bacon out of the pan and put it on a paper towel. She gets the eggs out of the fridge and looks up at him, blonde hair hanging in her eyes.

"Fried or scrambled?"

"Fried."

"Attaboy," Sam grins and cracks four eggs into the bacon grease. Jack gets plates down and dishes out their bacon and toast, taking the time to butter the toast before Sam puts the eggs on each plate. He carries them over to the small table he had in the kitchen and sets them down, pushing Sam to sit down as he gets forks, napkins, and glasses as well as the jug of orange juice they'd bought. He sets everything down on the table before dropping down into his own seat.

"This looks great," Jack compliments, "I don't know the last time someone made me breakfast."

"Don't tell me Daniel's not keeping up with the cooking on your missions," Sam teases before folding her eggs onto her toast along with the bacon, making a sandwich out of everything.

"Have you tried Daniel's cooking ever? It literally tastes like it came from Ancient Egypt," Jack points out, "I don't know how someone can make MREs taste worse than they actually are."

"He does have a knack for it," Sam replies with a laugh after swallowing. The two eat in compatible silence for a while until Sam finishes before Jack. She takes a sip of her orange juice before resting her chin on her hand as she watches him eat, "What do you want to do today?"

"We could go for a drive," Jack suggests as he drags his toast through the last of the runny egg yolks, "It's nice enough out we could take the top off the Jeep and I can show you the area. We can drive around the big lake."

"That sounds nice."

"We could be back by lunch and then do some fishing, if you're interested."

"Sure," Sam smiles and reaches out to swipe a bit of egg yolk off of the side of his mouth.

"Thanks," Jack smiles back before putting his fork down, "I thought you couldn't cook?"

"I'm pretty hopeless at it, but I can throw together a decent breakfast," Sam replies, "A few too many times of trying to apply the laws of thermodynamics and the ability to get distracted easily don't lend well to actually cooking."

"But you're so good at following directions," Jack teases as he picks their plates up and carries them over to the sink.

"Oh shut up," Sam says as she throws a kitchen towel at him. She brings their glasses over and sets them on the counter before putting the food away, "You mind cleaning up?"

"No I've got it, go get ready."

"Okay," Sam presses a kiss to his cheek before heading towards her room. Jack washes the dishes and puts them in the rack to dry before filling up a coffee cup and going out to take the top off the Jeep. Sam comes out a little bit later dressed in one of her black sleeveless BDU t-shirts and a pair of shorts, rubbing sunscreen into her arms. Her sunglasses were perched on her face as she makes her way down towards the Jeep where Jack was getting it ready, "Need any help?"

"Nope, I got it for right now," Jack says before he works through getting the top unsecured before tossing his ratchet on top of the tool box and looking at Sam, "Got a little muscle in you?"

"I'm sure I could still bench press you," Sam smiles as she gets up from her spot on the porch steps.

"The only pregnant woman I know with six pack abs."

"Know many pregnant women these days?" Sam laughs.

"Ah, no."

"That's okay, they're hardly a six pack anymore," Sam informs him before standing next to the Jeep, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just grab the other side of the cover and lift it off with me," Jack says as he grabs the other side. The two of them lift it off and deposit it on the ground, "Alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Sam smiles, "You wanna go get changed? I was going to put some snacks together."

"Sounds good," Jack smiles and grabs the tool box, resting his hand on the small of her back as they head back inside. Sam makes her way into the kitchen and goes through the food they'd purchased, putting a small cooler of snacks together as Jack gets changed. She looks up when he comes out in cargo shorts and a t-shirt, smiling at him.

"Ready?"

"If you are," She hands him the cooler and grabs two bottles of water before following him out to the car. She climbs into the passenger seat and buckles up before pulling her sunglasses down once again, noting to him that she was ready to go. Jack turns the engine over and pulls away, continuing down the gravel road his cabin was off of before grabbing Sam's hand over the console.

* * *

[TBC]


	7. Chapter 7

By the time they get halfway around the large lake that was nearby Jack notices that storm clouds were starting to roll in. Sam looks up and notices the greying of the sky as well.

"How far away from the cabin are we?"

"About as far as we can get," Jack says as he presses his foot down on the gas a little more. The two of them manage to get back to the cabin just as it starts to sprinkle and the first rumbles of thunder make their way across the sky. The rain starts to get heavier as they try to get the top back on well enough to keep the water out of the Jeep. Once they get the pieces back on, Jack grabs the cooler and pulls Sam inside, both of them laughing as they barely beat the torrential downpour, "Sorry I should have checked the weather."

"It's okay," Sam laughs as she shakes the water out of her hair. Jack swallows as he looks at her, the black top clinging to her form more than usual. He clears his throat and looks back up to catch a bemused smile on Sam's face.

"We should probably change."

"Probably, looks like we're going to be stuck inside for a while," Sam comments, brushing past Jack on her way to her room. She changes back into the pajamas she'd worn the night before and pulls her sweatshirt on as she closes the window in her room most of the way to keep the rain out. She makes her way out to the living room and turns on the lights before jumping as a strike of lightning clashes down.

"Scared of a little lightning?"

"No, just took me off guard," Sam says as she turns around finding Jack also back in his sweats, "What do you want to do?"

"Well, tv's out. The antenna's crap most of the time, in the rain it's useless. I've got some cards and a couple board games."

"Board games?"

"Yeah let me check," Jack says as he goes to the closet, "I've got Monopoly, Life, couple decks of cards, and…I don't know how the hell it got in here but Trivial Pursuit."

Sam opens her mouth to respond when Jack looks around the corner, "We're not playing that one."

Sam pouts, sticking her bottom lip out, before grinning evilly, "We could just make out."

Sam laughs as she hears the boxes clatter to the ground with a well timed 'Goddamnit' from Jack. She grins as she drops down onto the couch and leaves him to clean up the mess he had no doubt created. A few minutes later he appears with a deck of cards he tosses on the table.

"Making out, huh?" Jack asks as he kneels on the couch next to her.

"Yes, I believe that's what I suggested," Sam smiles, tipping her chin up at him, "Unless you'd rather play cards."

"No, no, making out sounds good."

"Then get over here," Sam says, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling. Jack leans in closer to her and grabs the throw pillow behind himself, putting it behind Sam before fully leaning into her and capturing her lips. Sam hums as she kisses him back and wraps her arms around his neck. She shifts slightly and opens her legs, cradling him in between her thighs.

The two of them continue to go at it for a while before Sam's hands slip down Jack's sides and make their way under his t-shirt. She lifts her body against his and pulls back from his lips, tugging the shirt over his head. She drops it on the floor and runs her hands over his skin, eyeballing him. She bites her bottom lip as she runs her fingers through his sparse chest hair.

"Hey…"

"Hmm?" Sam hums as she looks up at him, resting her hands on his hips.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"When have I ever done anything I didn't want to?" Sam smiles and presses a kiss to his lips as she slips her hands up his back. Jack opens his mouth to respond once she pulls back.

"Outside of following orders?" Jack jokes.

"I can just as easily go take a nap now."

"Oh can you?" Jack grins.

"Mmhm," Sam hums before making a show to get up. Jack pushes her back down.

"No, stay," He murmurs before getting up, "Let me make it more comfortable though."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry I'll be back," Jack assures her before stepping outside. The temperature had cooled considerably during the rain shower. He walks around the corner of the porch, glad it was all covered as he grabs two bundles of wood from the stash he kept on the side of the house. He brings it back inside and drops it in front of the fireplace that was in the living room. He gets a fire going in the fireplace before moving the coffee table out of the way.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait," Jack says as he disappears down the hallway. He comes back with an arm full of blankets, kicking a couple of balled up sleeping bags. He gets everything layered up and spread out on the floor before nudging Sam to get up as he grabs the cushions off the couch and tosses them on the floor, "There. Much more comfortable."

"And the coincidentally romance has been turned up with that fire," Sam teases as she takes her sweatshirt off and drops it on the ground next to Jack's shirt. She sinks down onto the blankets and is surprised to find that he had built up a pretty decent bed. She looks up at him and rests her body against the cushions and the couch as she admires his form. He was the perfect amount of muscles and soft. He was well tanned and well travelled, she could see the scars left on his body. His legs were well muscled and she found it adorable how his feet had tan lines from wearing the same sandals over and over during his summers in Minnesota.

"Pass muster?" Jack asks as he notices her lingering gaze.

"Oh you definitely pass," Sam grins at him. Jack lowers himself down to their blanket bed and rolls closer to Sam.

"Hi."

"Hi," Sam smiles and presses her lips against his, this time rolling to lay on top of Jack. She giggles as his hands slip under her shirt and accidentally tickle her sides as his hands stroke over her skin. He pushes the t-shirt up and off as his hands move higher. He tosses the fabric to the side and swallows hard as he realizes she wasn't wearing a bra. His hands move up the back of her shoulders and around to the front, stroking all of the smooth skin he comes into contact with.

Jack's fingertips move down her sternum and his hand flattens across her stomach. She was right about it no longer being a six pack. The defined muscles had softened out, she had a distinct pooch right above where her shorts were resting. You wouldn't be able to tell she was pregnant if you didn't know, but he remembered every muscle and curve from their first time. He'd mapped it all out in his mind. He sits up and forces her to lie back, closer to the fire. He watches as the light from the flames flicker over her skin to highlight all the dips and rises of her porcelain features. He captures her lips in a hungry kiss before starting to kiss his way down her body. He teases her breasts with his lips and tongue, earning a rise out of her as she moans and arches into him. He palms both of the globes in his hands, squeezing and massaging as his lips continue south.

Sam takes a deep breath and moans softly as his lips continue to pepper kisses across her abdomen, his tongue teasingly dipping into her belly button. She brings her hands up to cup his head and hold him close as he drops his forehead against her stomach. She uses the little grip she has on his hair to pull him back up to her lips, kissing him as her hands run over his back muscles. She slips her hands into his gym shorts and playfully squeezes his ass which earns her a chuckle from him as he nips at her bottom lip. She continues to move her hands south, managing to wrangle the shorts and his boxers off of him enough that he takes a moment to kick them off. Jack then takes the time to take her shorts off, pulling them down her long legs. He kisses his way back up, finding all the places that would make her whimper and sigh. He pauses at the apex, teasingly dipping his tongue into her wet folds. Sam shakes her head and pulls insistently at his hair.

"Want you."

"How bad?" Jack teases her as he bites at her hip bone.

"Bad," Sam insists, a whine to her tone. Jack smiles and climbs back up her form, grinning as he hovers over her. She gasps as she feels him nudging at her entrance, her eyes darkening to an even deeper blue. Jack's hands skim over her thighs and he pulls her closer. Sam's hips arch up and she strokes herself against his length, "Please."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack presses a kiss to her lips and groans softly as he slides into her. Sam moans and tightens her legs around his waist, pulling him in completely. She grins up at him and kisses him softly as she starts to move her hips. The two move easily together, teasing and laughing as they fall into step. Sam bites her bottom lip as she looks up at Jack, her hands wrapped around his arms, feeling the muscles strain and bulge under her fingers. She tightens the grip on his hips with her thighs before using her weight to throw him off balance and roll him onto his back. She laughs as Jack looks up at her with a stunned look, rocking her hips down against him. He knocks the look off of her face with a particularly strong thrust.

"Oh yeah, right there," Sam moans as she braces her hands on Jack's chest with her nails digging in just slightly, "More."

"Oh you want more?" Jack asks as he holds her hips and grinds against her the way that had made her moan. Sam nods impatiently, whimpers escaping her as Jack manipulates both of their bodies. Her skin flushes and she feels the coil in her stomach getting tighter and tighter, her breathing getting faster. He uses his own skills to push her back onto her back, grinning at her as he pulls her leg up over his shoulder. Sam gasps as he moves hard against her, continuing to drive her to the edge. He slips a hand between them and massages his fingers over her clit.

Sam's back arches and she cries out Jack's name as she orgasms hard, her eyes tightly closed. She reaches behind her and grabs onto the couch cushion underneath her head, her knuckles white as she rides through the aftershocks. Jack slows down and stops, waiting for Sam to come down from her high. His own muscles clench in wait as she pulses around him and her muscles pull him in tight. She drops against the cushion with a groan while she pants softly.

"Oh my god," She whimpers as her hips involuntarily arch up against Jack, her eyes opening and focusing on him. Small beads of sweat were running down his chest from both his exertion and the heat emanating from the fireplace. His eyes were almost black as he looked down at her. She hums as her muscles squeeze him again and find him still hard inside of her. She tips her hips to give him to go ahead, moaning softly as he starts to move again, igniting already fried nerve endings. Jack moves quick and fast, his thrusts uncoordinated as he searches for his release. Sam moans as she moves with him until she feels his grip tighten on her thigh. She tightens her grip on him with her other leg and pulls him entirely into her, milking him for all he's worth as he groans her name as he lets go.

Sam bites her lip and groans as she finds herself gently fall over the edge again before Jack releases her leg from his grip. She wraps the limb around his waist and pulls him close to her as he comes down from his high. Her arms wrap around his torso and she cradles him close for a moment, enjoying his weight on top of her before he rolls onto his back and brings her with him. She giggles softly as she lays astride his form, pressing kisses to his jaw.

"Mmmm, this is nice," She comments as the rain pelts against the roof and thunder rumbles in the background.

"This is very nice," Jack agrees with a sleepy tone, his hand stroking up and down her back. Sam props herself up with her elbows resting on Jack's shoulders as she looks down at him, messy blonde hair hanging in her face. She pecks his lips with a soft kiss and smiles at him.

"I love you."

"I love you too, my beautiful girl," He smiles back before pulling her down and wrapping his arm around her back as he closes his eyes to fall asleep.

* * *

[TBC]


	8. Chapter 8

Sam sighs as she chomps down on a potato chip as she and Jack lie in front of the fire. After the initial storm had passed they'd gotten another day of sun before another storm rolled in. Their blanket bed had been resurrected and they were sitting snuggled up in front of the flames enjoying a bag of chips Jack had gotten up to get not long before while listening to a rotation of CDs in the background.

"I still haven't told my dad," Sam says after she swallows, her hand already reaching back into the bag. Jack looks over at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Told him what?"

"Any of this," Sam waves her hand around, "I haven't even told Mark, and I can pick up the phone and call him."

"I haven't told my family," Jack shrugs and stuffs his hand in the bag after she pulls a handful of chips out, "But then again I haven't talked to them in eight years so..."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yeah, but we fell off the track a little bit there," Jack laughs before stuffing a few chips into his mouth. Sam slaps him on the abs with a small laugh, resting her head against his shoulder.

"He might still try to shoot you, even if he does like you."

"I'll be sure to not be present when this announcement happens."

"Oh that will _definitely_ get him to come after you," Sam assures him.

"What about your brother? I thought you didn't get along."

"We don't really...Dad wants me to make more of an effort with him since he's off world most of the time. The last couple visits have gone okay," Sam shrugs and plays with a frayed edge on the blanket, "We're just not buddy buddy, you know?"

"I know a little something about that," Jack replies with a wry tone, "I have six non-buddy buddies, you know?"

"You have six siblings?"

"The O'Neill's are a traditional Irish Catholic family I'll have you know...All of them younger than me," Jack replies, "Most of them _way_."

"How old were your parents when they had you?"

"Nineteen," Jack laughs, "Born nine months to the day after the wedding."

"Ahhhh," Sam grins, "Nine months you say."

"Yep."

"Funny how that happens," She laughs, "What about your siblings?"

"Jimmy and Katie weren't born until I was 9, and they were pretty rapid succession after that. Two sets of twins actually," Jack comments.

"Holy Hannah, _Two_ sets of twins?"

"Mmhm."

"God, I'd hate to be your mother," Sam shakes her head with a look of fear in her eyes.

"What you don't want seven little O'Neill's running around trying to make you tear your hair out?"

"I don't know how I'm going to handle one little O'Neill if you're anything to go by," Sam grins sweetly at him and reaches up to ruffle his hair. Jack frowns at her and she laughs before pressing a kiss to his lips, "What are their names?"

"Who?"

"Your brothers and sisters," Sam asks as she picks his hand up in hers to fiddle with, "They must have names."

"Right," Jack screws his face up to make it look like he was trying to remember and exclaims as Sam pinches the tender skin of his wrist between two of her nails, "Ow! Alright, alright. Jimmy and Katie are twins, then there was Maggie, and then Annie, and then Cal and Connor."

"And you don't talk to any of them?" Sam asks with an arched eyebrow.

"I don't talk to my parents. I talk to Katie and Maggie some. The rest...it's mostly just cards and Christmas phone calls," Jack shrugs and looks down, "Most of them are still afraid of upsetting Mom and Dad. Or agree with them."

"About what?"

"There was a falling out after Charlie died. About what happened, about Sara and I getting a divorce, about a lot of things," Jack explains, "It's not like we had the greatest relationship before it happened but after..."

"That's awful," Sam sympathizes, kissing his shoulder where she was resting her head. He shrugs once more and reaches a hand back into the chip bag, "Families suck."

"Amen to that," Jack agrees before tossing a chip into his mouth, "We won't suck though will we?"

"I hope not," She responds with a light shrug of her own, "I'm sure we'll come with our own problems and everything, as long as we love them what else can we do?"

"Not too much," He sighs as he drops his hand to rest on her thigh, squeezing softly. She covers his hand and squeezes, her thumb running over his knuckles. Her body slips down to more of a laying position and she rests her head on his stomach before closing her eyes, "Tired?"

"Mmhm," Sam nods and sighs happily as she feels his fingers running through her hair. She'd decided to grow it out after moving into her civilian position, it was just almost brushing her shoulders now. Just enough for her to pull into a ponytail if she needed to. She'd done the bun all the way through the academy before deciding to cut it off after her graduation. Having long hair wasn't worth it to her if it had to spend most of it's time rolled into an impossibly tight bun at the nape of her neck.

Soon she finds herself dozing off, the drizzle of the rain against the roof and the rise and fall of Jack's chest making it easy for her. She manages to get a couple hour nap in before waking up when she hears birds tweeting outside and a strip of sunlight strikes her in the eye.

"Rain's passed," Sam comments as she lifts her head, rubbing her eyes. When she doesn't get a response she looks up and notices Jack was asleep now as well. She sits up more and stretches out before pushing herself up off the ground and heading towards the back door. She takes a quick peak outside to confirm that the rain had stopped, blue skies shining back at her. She closes the screen door and leaves the back door open to let some air in.

Checking the clock Sam starts to get things out for dinner before going to light the grill. She gives it a few minutes to preheat as she seasons the steaks they'd picked up at the store. As the steaks rest she takes some time to cut up some potatoes, making foil packets with them. She tosses the packets onto the grill to start cooking before dragging out a few ears of corn. She pulls back the husk and tears out the silk before wrapping them back up to soak in the sink. Giving her hands a quick dunk in the water Sam dries them off before pulling out vegetables to cut up for a salad. She arches her eyebrows as she chops, surprised Jack was still asleep. She finishes her prep of the vegetables before deciding to finally take the steaks and corn out. She loads up everything onto a tray before deciding to take pity on the man and wake him up.

"Jack, honey," Sam murmurs, the sentiment easily slips from her lips as she sits on the couch and runs her fingers gently through his hair.

"Mmhph," Jack hums as he leans into her touch. She smiles and scrubs her nails gently over his scalp.

"I'm getting dinner ready, time to get up."

"What's for dinner?" Jack mumbles as he tries to cajole himself into waking up.

"Steak and some potatoes, few ears of corn, and a salad," Sam describes, "And we even have some of that pie left that Ed and Barbara brought over yesterday."

"Mmm, pie."

"I'm going to go put the steaks on, so you've got about twenty before dinner's ready," Sam presses a kiss to his forehead before getting up and going to finish what she was working on. By the time dinner was on the small kitchen table Jack had gotten up from the blanket bed and gone to wash up before returning to the kitchen a little more alert. He thanks Sam and kisses her softly before sitting down to eat.

"This looks delicious."

"Not too bad hmm?" Sam smiles.

"So only cooking on vacation is allowed, nothing to distract you," Jack winks before picking up his utensils. Sam pokes at his hand with her fork in admonishment of his teasing, "Ow!"

"That'll teach you."

"Very few things will," Jack notes with a grin. Sam rolls her eyes before digging into her dinner.

The rest of the weekend is spent playing in the sun and surf for the two of them. They're finally able to get in their fill of fishing, breaking their time up with nature walks around the area and daytime sex. By late Sunday afternoon the cabin had been locked up for another few months on its own, the Jeep parked at the airport, and the two of them were on their flight back to Colorado Springs. Sam settles into the middle seat, letting Jack have the window this time. She smiles at him as he reaches over the arm rest to take her hand.

"Did you have a good time?"

"I did, I had a very good time," Sam replies as she presses a kiss to the back of his hand, "I wish I'd gone a long time ago."

"Well even if you'd gone a long time ago we _probably_ wouldn't have done the stuff we did this weekend."

"We definitely wouldn't have," Sam laughs. She leans over and kisses Jack thoroughly before pulling back and stroking his cheek, "I love you, and I can't wait to come back with you. I can't wait for family vacations. It'll be great to make it our own little hideaway."

"I could just retire and we could move up there, sleepy little lake town of Bigfork. They have a hospital."

"I am not giving birth in Bigfork, Minnesota," Sam shoots him down with a laugh, "I'm doing it in the comfort of the SGC with Janet attending and not surprising any unsuspecting doctor with our unique little angel's proteins and genetics."

"Mmm that is a good plan," Jack nods before quirking his eyebrow as he processes what she's told him, "Janet's going to do it?"

"She's consulting with an obstetrician from the Academy," Sam assures him.

"I'd hope so, I don't think the SGC has a labor and delivery wing. Though maybe I've missed it."

"No, they don't," Sam grins. Jack leans over and kisses her again before settling back in his seat. He couldn't get enough of kissing her. She leans her head against his shoulder and pulls out her book, flipping it open to where her bookmark was before starting to read. By the time they get home it's dark outside and they part at the airport with another kiss. Sam drags herself home and dumps all of her clothes into her hamper before pulling out a nightgown to sleep in. She undresses and pulls the gown over her head before heading to the bathroom. She washes her face and brushes her teeth before taking her contacts out and putting them in their container. Rubbing her eyes, Sam heads back into the bedroom and turns the light off before collapsing into bed and snuggling into her pillow.

In the morning she showers and gets ready for work, walking into the mountain just a little before 8. She makes her way down to her lab, greeting people along the way. Once inside she grabs the stack of paperwork that had formed during her long weekend away and moves it to her desk before hanging up her purse and shrugging on her lab coat. After getting settled she opens up the first report and halfway through gets distracted as the klaxons going off and Walter's voice echoes down the PA system.

"Unscheduled off world activation!" She listens to a few pairs of feet clamor past before turning back to the papers in front of her. In the control room Jack jogs up the stairs to meet General Hammond coming down from his office.

"Who is it?" Jack asks first as he takes a position behind Walter.

"IDC incoming…it's the Tok'ra ID," He relays, looking up at his superiors.

"Open the iris," Hammond commands as Jack rolls his eyes.

"What now?" He practically whines before trudging down to the gate room to greet whoever was coming in from the Tok'ra. A smile comes over his face when he sees Jacob walk through the gate, hands folded into his robes, "Jacob!"

"Jack, how are you?" Jacob asks as the two embrace for a moment before stepping back.

"Not too bad, you?"

"Can't complain," Jacob smiles.

"Anything in particular that brings you by?"

"Unfortunately yes, you might want to get the team and the General together," Jacob suggests as he follows Jack towards the briefing room.

"Hammond should be waiting, I'll get the other three up here," Jack informs him with a pat on the back before going to page the rest of the group. Daniel, Teal'c, and their next science trainee make their way into the room a few minutes later and Jacob arches his eyebrow at Jack and Hammond.

"Where's Sam?" He asks, pointedly.

"She's come down with something, Doc want's her to stick to the lab for a few missions," Jack easily explains, giving enough information packaged in a white lie to Jacob to satisfy him and get him to focus back on their mission, assuming there was going to be one, "I'll take you down to her lab after this. But this is Doctor Maia Fellowes, she's going to be jumping on the team for a little bit here."

"Alright," Jacob nods before taking a seat at the table and beginning to explain his presence at the SGC. After they finish Hammond stands and looks at Jack.

"Get your gear together, SG-1 leaves in two hours," He orders. Jack nods before he leaves the room. He looks at the group and tells them to go start packing their gear up before turning to Jacob and offering to show him down to Sam's lab. The two make their way down from the briefing room and head towards Sam's lab.

* * *

[TBC]


End file.
